


beautiful day

by strawberrylipstick



Category: Never Have I Ever (TV)
Genre: Continuation, Drabble, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:27:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23938399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrylipstick/pseuds/strawberrylipstick
Summary: Just a little drabble of what happened after the kiss.Also posted on my tumblr @godly-styles.
Relationships: Ben Gross/Devi Vishwakumar
Comments: 14
Kudos: 204





	beautiful day

**Author's Note:**

> as an indian teenager living in CA, never have i ever hit all the right spots 😭 besides the representation i was deprived of growing up, it’s such a good show omfg 🥺

Mohan and Nalini once kissed exactly where Devi Vishwakumar and Ben Gross are currently making out.

Seaside, in a car (but not as expensive), the blue California sky seemingly expanding for their eyes alone. Mohan had stroked Nalini’s cheek after their lips broke apart, and Ben caresses Devi’s just as softly.

“Ben, I—” Devi begins, her skin alight in the setting sun’s glow, and Ben realizes that he’s never realized, or fully appreciated, how beautiful she is. There’s a fire in her that had tormented him for years, presenting itself as hatred but was really contradictory admiration. It was always Devi, getting underneath his skin like nobody else can. For once, she’s struggling to articulate herself, and he doesn’t blame her. Doing is better than saying.

“Devi!” comes the unmistakable call of Dr. Vishwakumar herself. Her head pokes out of the car window. “Are you coming?”

“Oh—yes.” Devi opens the door. “I was just thanking Ben!” She swallows, facing him again. “Thank—”

“You don’t have to,” Ben says automatically. He smiles at her and she smiles back. Devi turns to leave and instinctively, he grabs her hand. “Um. I guess I have to drop your stuff back?”

“Yeah. I’m going home.” Devi nods, a bright grin on her face. “Must be a relief to get rid of me, I bet.”

He scoffs. “Must be a relief for _you_. It was probably torture staying in a mansion with your academic superior.”

She rolls her eyes, but there’s some fondness. “Still an asshole, Gross?”

“It never stops,” Ben promises. Devi laughs and then exits, a soft smile on her face. As she jogs to her mom’s car, she looks back at him and mouths “thank you.”

~

Devi and Ben both go to bed that night thinking of each other, the same way Mohan and Nalini did when they first met. Replaying the scenes in their head like a film. Minor details glorified in their lovestruck minds. (Sure, it was an arranged meeting between their relatives, but there was something in that man’s soulful gaze that told Nalini he was the man she was going to spend the rest of her days with).

Except Devi’s replay is cut short by her mother’s footsteps. She must think she’s sleeping for she just stands there, watching her only child breathe underneath the fluffy blanket Mohan had thrifted when they’d first moved in. And then Nalini bends down, pecks her daughter’s forehead, strokes her hair the way she only used to do when Devi was little.

That’s all it takes for Devi to cry again. Her mother doesn’t seem startled in the slightest, just turns out the beside lamp and gathers her in her arms. Devi’s the shocked one: she can see the anguish in her mom’s face, violent sobs threatening to take over. She clutches Nalini tighter and that makes her let go, cradling each other as the crickets chirp.

But even hiccupy cries fade into teary laughter. The three girls play home videos the whole night, entertained by Mohan’s descriptions of baby Devi, and when Kamala finally falls asleep with her head buried in a bowl of popcorn, Nalini turns to her and says, “Is he a nice boy?”

Devi’s taken aback, but says, “I thought you already know he is.” Her thoughts morph into the softness of Ben’s lips, the bright blue of his eyes, and how he had stayed. How he cared for her, truly cared for her, and the surprising way she cared for him as well.

Nalini raises an eyebrow. “Well, not really. I mean, I practically called him dumb a couple times—”

“Oh! You’re talking about Paxton.” 

“Who was I supposed to be talking about?” Nalini seems exasperated, but Devi just laughs and pulls her closer.

“Don’t worry, Mom.” She burrows her head in her shoulder. “If you want to move to India, I respect it. Well, I’ll learn to live with it.” 

Nalini clucks her tongue and moves a strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear. “No, beta. It’s wrong of me to try and take you away from your home. Besides, how will you get into Princeton if you’re too busy dying of heat?”

She laughs.

“You just stay with me for a while, okay?” Nalini says, her voice wavering. “You don’t get to go just yet.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Devi says, and it’s true. In her mother’s arms, the promise of Ben attainable, and the tune of her father’s favorite song playing in her head. A beautiful ending to a beautiful day.

**Author's Note:**

> honestly it kind of bothers me how people keep shitting on how devi’s “embarrassed of her culture”, it is very hard to be 100% secure in your identity and i know that first-hand as a first-gen indian-american teenage girl. i can’t wait for future seasons and the ability to witness devi’s character growth. also her relationship with ben haha  
> did i tell you i sobbed during the therapist scene with her mom 😙 a bit too relatable luv  
> i don't think this is the only piece i'll write for this show!


End file.
